Spain

Spain v Argentina Preview

Kick off for today’s match against Argentina is in less than an hour and this is going to be hands down, one of the best matches of the year. It may be classified as an “international friendly” but it’ll be anything but friendly. It is the centenary match for La Furia Roja as we celebrate 100 years since the RFEF (Real Federación Española de Fútbol) was made the governing body of Spanish football.

Besides our bit of a slip up in the Confederation’s Cup against the U.S., we’ve been as good as it gets with our flawless qualifying record to show for it. Granted, we did have somewhat of a simple qualifying group with Turkey not following up on their solid European campaign and the rest of the group just being sub-par, really. What the defeat did help us do though is realize we can’t be content with our play but rather strive for more. It showed that despite having not lost in over 30 matches, we still have much to work on. It appears that we did considering we came back from South Africa and were even stronger in qualifying.

Argentina have been a bit erratic since Maradona’s takeover as manager of the South American powerhouse but did qualifying directly for the World Cup next year even though it appeared they wouldn’t.

Lucky for us in Spain that we know the threats that players like Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuaín can cause seeing as they ply their trade for the two biggest clubs in the country and I’m sure their fellow La Liga players like Piqué and Sergio Ramos will be keen to shut them down.

Earlier this week the announcement was made that Sevilla star Jesús Navas will be called up to the squad long ending speculation whether he would ever overcome his homesickness. He confessed to Del Bosque that he is ready to play and after long apparent discussions, he received the call up. His recent form is second to none with him scoring both in Europe and domestically for Sevilla in the last few matches. He will be keen to keep his spot in the squad but faces tough competition from what on paper, is the strongest midfield in the world.

Another somewhat surprise call up is Pablo Hérnandez but anyone that follows La Liga will recognize that his hard work has finally paid off. Valencia has been a very up and down team this season but without Pablo, they probably would have been more down than up. His fellow Valenciano Juan Mata has also been named to the squad although that’s nothing new seeing as he’s made it for the past few international matches.

The third unusual but deserving call up for Spain is Sevilla striker Álvaro Negredo who is set to win his second cap for La Furia Roja. He grabbed two goals last match when we ran rout in Zenica, smashing Bosnia-Herzegovina 5-2. He’s been continued his form for the rojiblancos helping them continue undefeated in the Champions League and as well as push towards Real Madrid and Barcelona for the top spot in La Liga.

The full squad looks like this:

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Diego López (Villarreal).

Defenders: Álvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Raúl Albiol (Real Madrid), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Andoni Iraola (Athletic Bilbao), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergi Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal), Xavi Hérnandez (Barcelona), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Jesus Navas (Sevilla).

Strikers: Pablo Hérnandez (Valencia), Dani Güiza (Fenerbahce), Juan Mata (Valencia), David Silva (Valencia), David Villa (Valencia), Álvaro Negredo (Sevilla)

Personally I think we have a much deeper squad than Argentina but they seem to be lucky of late so one never knows what’s going to happen. The only thing I know is anyone who is lucky enough to witness this match should consider themselves privileged; it’s going to be nothing short of amazing.

If Casillas gets the start today like we expect him to, he will win his 100th cap for Spain and coincidentally enough its in our centenary match. We all know he’s probably claimed his spot as the best goalkeeper in the world especially after his Euro 2008 heroics and I believe this is a great achievement for a great player. Congratulations San Iker.